Mutton Memories
by Rolling Tomorrow
Summary: There was a certain cry that transcended time and space.


Mutton Memories

"_Mutton! Fresh mutton!"_

Jude never quite understood why Alvin looked so cheerful when they got close to one of Rieze Maxia's many, many mutton stands. The man would always smirk, which was nothing unusual, but his expression would also become just a bit wistful. As he was always the sort of person who investigated, Jude decided to question him on it one day.

"Alvin, are you going to buy some mutton?" Jude asked simply.

Leia made a face and noise of disgust while Milla wandered over to the mutton stand, tempted by anything that was food. The mercenary turned around to face Jude with his hands casually folded behind his head, but didn't stop walking.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure Milla depleted the food budget," he said dismissively.

"We keep a little money in the backup food budget," Jude remarked quietly, glancing over at the drooling and distracted Lord of Spirits.

"Bet you got an A+ in logistics, short stuff," he said dryly.

"Jude gets As in everything," Leia chimed in as she trotted over to them.

"It's nothing to boast about," the honors student shrugged, a bit uncomfortably.

"So do you really like mutton that much?" Leia questioned the mercenary. "You look ready to marry it every time we walk past one of those smelly stands."

"I'll get you perfume of that smell for your birthday if you love it so much," Alvin said sarcastically.

He continued onward and didn't look back again. He didn't give any clear answers or information; though that was becoming almost as common as the mutton stands in every city they entered.

~oOo~

Leia looked mildly offended when the sound of a certain cry from a distant corner of the Trigleph commercial district. Jude looked back at her with an expression of concern when she started to glace around the area frantically. He stopped and hurried over to her side, studying her stricken expression, though it didn't seem to be in reaction to any physical pain.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered.

He frowned but was silent as he strained his ears to hear what made her so distressed all of a sudden. He truly didn't know what to expect; perhaps gun shots or an explosion? But even if that was the case, it wouldn't explain why she was so stricken simply from the sound.

Then, he heard it. It was muffled and clearly came from some distance away, but the syllables were familiar enough to be discernable. Jude's eyebrows furrowed and looked over with a look of disbelief.

"_**Mutton! Fresh mutton!"**_

"What's the big deal? The mutton man?" Alvin asked blankly.

"There is a mutton vendor in this world as well?" Milla asked curiously, already starting to look hungry. "How interesting. Humans in this world are so similar to the ones in Rieze Maxia, right down to their deep adoration of aged sheep."

"But why are they _yelling _just like they did back home?" Leia demanded. "It's so rude! And just way too similar!"

"People like their mutton," Alvin shrugged.

"Wait," Jude said, also stopping suddenly. "This is why you'd always look so nostalgic when we passed the mutton stands, isn't it? Because they reminded you of home?"

"Guilty as charged, detective short stuff," he said as trotted away. "The first mutton man actually came from here and started the trend up over in your world."

"You have got to be kidding me," Leia deadpanned.

"Would I lie to you about this?" Alvin retorted.

Leia stared blankly then sighed and started to hurry after Milla when she started to wander toward the mutton stand. While the similarity was an unexpected one, it did remind him that they were surrounded by humans not so different from themselves. He just hadn't expected that a similarity would manifest by mutton men transcending worlds.

* * *

So…this is my contribution to the Xillia fandom. XD This idea came from running around Trigleph, hearing our infamous mutton man, and shouting at my TV "WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE?"

They transcend time and space. Thus, this oneshot was born.

I wrote this back in December and wasn't going to post it since it's so short and derpy, but... =w= Maybe someone will enjoy it.


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